Black With Two Sugars
by Officegirl13
Summary: Tax and Legal director at an important firm, Edward Cullen, takes pride in his hard work even if it means being on his own all the time. When his new assistant is equally hard working and challenges him daily, he finds himself wondering if his lonely life is worth it after all.
1. Chapter 1 - The Office

**A/N**

 **Hello all! I'm completely new at this thing, but I've been thinking about this plot for a while now and decided to just write it down. The chapters will be getting longer as the story evolves.**

 **Also, I'm not a native English speaker so any grammar mistakes/ corrections please let me know**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephanie, I own nothing.**

 **Chapter 1 – The Office**

The phone rang for what felt like two hours, but I'm sure it wasn't more than three minutes. I looked at the screen to see who it was and obviously, it was Jasper.

"Hello?"

"Edward, would you care to explain to me why you missed the 8:00 a.m. meeting with Price?" Jasper´s voice indicated he was clearly very annoyed.

"Shit, I didn't have it written down on my agenda, when was this scheduled?" I always had my meetings set up through my email so I could get a reminder beforehand.

"Well, it was talked about through various emails last month, so Kate should have sent you and invite" Oh, well that was my answer. Kate.

Kate was my assistant, up until 2 weeks ago. She was a nice girl, but painfully naïve. She was constantly forgetting to write things down and deliver messages, as with the Price meeting. She worked at a young age to please her father, who demanded she learn some responsibility, but it just wasn't what I needed. I'm a busy man, I manage the entire Tax department for this firm, I can't just forget to put stuff on my calendar.

"Jasper, look, Kate probably forgot to add it into my Outlook, I'll see what I can do to make it up to them. I know this joint project is important for Tax, so I'll talk to Robert and work something out. Send me the notes from the meeting and I'll fix it."

"Ok man, but please tell me your new assistant is arriving soon. You seem to never know how to do your own shit."

"Yes, she's coming in on Monday. He resume wasn´t the brightest, but it definitely gave me economic problems type vibes. Those are usually good worker, since they need the money. Kate was spoiled and not used to working, I can't blame her, it's her father's fault."

"Well, make sure the newbie gets on track fast, we need you on your A game."

"Will do, boss."

"That's Mr. Boss to you."

The phone clicked indicating the fucker had hung up. We had a game of sorts, like an ego game of who hung up on who first. I'd beat him next time. I was the regional director of Tax and Legal at Deloitte here in Seattle. Jasper was senior manager, so we constantly had to work together. We usually got along, since we lived together in college but the guy knew exactly how to annoy me when he wanted to.

Despite that morning's slip up, I carried on with my normal work as always. Meetings, conference calls in different languages, signing a thousand reports, and so on. I loved my job, it allowed me to travel often and our firm had a very flexible environment. People took breaks whenever they needed to and signed in late if they had a morning coffee date or a doctor's appointment and in return, if there was a lot of work to be done, people stayed late to please the client. There was a very good life-work balance, not that I had much of a life anyway.

It was Friday, so everyone was making plans to go out and have drinks with co-workers and friends, but I didn't particularly like crossing those lines with my employees, especially since I was young for my position and people didn't take me seriously at first. They thought I was somebody's nephew or a good friend of someone's son, but that wasn't the case. I worked hard to get to where I am. I joined the running team as a sprinter in 8th grade, since I knew I wanted to study law and scholarships for sports where the most common. I worked out daily, worked at a local car wash so I could pay for supplements and running gear, I studied harder than the other kids, always went the extra mile and that was the key to my success. I took pride in that.

I maintained my distance from most colleagues and just kept to myself. I avoided social outings and only attended very necessary office parties, like the one for Christmas. Jasper on the other hand, is a whole different story. He likes every woman in the firm, especially my assistants, who tend to like him back. I don't mind as long as it doesn't interfere with my work.

The clock on the wall of my office indicated it was long past 5:00 p.m. I liked leaving the office late so I could work in peace, without phone calls every 2 minutes and no one timidly knocking on my door as if I was the Grinch. I'm hard to handle and I'm aware of it, but I strongly believe in doing things right, or not at all. Hopefully the new girl would agree with me.

Right, the new girl. I hate having an assistant. They're usually young girls who dream of fucking their boss and getting an easy life or just don't have any type of maturity to handle a job. They're on their phones all day texting their friends and forget they're being paid to actually do something. But my job requires I have one since I have a huge amount of paper work that I can't handle on my own, there's just not enough hours in a day. Plus, the firm pays me to think of new business strategies, not file a client's tax papers.

At about 7:30 p.m. I headed out, saying goodbye to the cleaning lady.

One I was home, I ordered a pizza for dinner and opened up a beer. I lived for my quiet evenings where I didn't have to listen to anyone's nagging or requests. I turned on the T.V. and pressed the numbers of my favorite channel. Cooking channel. Something about Beat Bobby Flay and Everyday Italian was mesmerizing to me. I didn't know how to cook at all, so I think it's my way of satisfying that dream of eating a home cooked meal.

I was alone all the time, and I liked it. I was used to it. I was alone, but not lonely, even if no one believed me. Jasper keeps telling me I need another woman, someone who will brighten up my day and make me less of an ass. I didn't agree. Women usually drained me, and my ex-wife was living proof of that. She was selfish and didn't appreciate anything I did for her or gave her. I learned my lesson and just retired the dating scene.

I could tell people wondered why I wasn't dating more. Sometimes women in the office would bait me, try to see if maybe I was more of a "casual encounter" type of guy. But I wasn't. I didn't enjoy meaningless sex, I didn't want that either.

When the show was over, I got in my bed and fell asleep shortly after.

The weekend flew by. I headed to work on Saturday to get some more work done and grabbed lunch with Jasper after. He told me about his escapade with the receptionist of the 3rd floor and I just sat there and judged him, as always. He was playing a dangerous game, it's not only women who get judged for sleeping around. Yes, they definitely have it worse with double standards, but in the eyes of our superiors, being taken seriously by your employees is important and I don't know how much respect one can have for a man fucking everything that walks, especially if you've been one of those walking things.

Sunday was spent at home, doing laundry and cleaning up the apartment. I lived in a pretty big apartment, it only had two rooms, but a lot of living area space and a huge kitchen that I rarely used, because, well you know.

When Monday came, I admit I was a bit nervous. The upcoming projects where important and I just couldn't deal with having another useless assistant with all the stress. I walked into my office and let the receptionist know she could let the assistant into my office when she arrived.

"Hello Martha, let the assistant come in as soon as she arrives"

"Um, Mr. Cullen, she is already here. I tried telling you as you came in but you were checking your phone, for important issues I'm sure, I'm not insinuating you're texting or doing anything non work related, you just, um, seemed distracted and didn't respond so I left it at that"

"Martha, let her in."

"Yes, Mr. Cullen."

I sighed. Here it comes. At least the assistant arrived on time, that's a plus. As soon as the though left my mind, there was a soft knock on the door. Didn't I tell her to just come in?

"Come in." I spoke loudly to make sure she heard through the door.

A young girl, younger than I expected, walked through the door. The first thing I noticed is she didn't dress over the top, just a black tight fitting pencil skirt and a white button-up. Hair up in a ponytail and simple black heels. That's a first. Usually women walk in here in huge heels and straightened hair, trying to cause an impact on the first day. It was a nice change, she looked ready to work, not wow.

"Hello Mr. Cullen, I'm Isabella."

"Hello Isabella, sit down, I want to go over some things with you." She quickly sat down and looked up at me waiting for me to continue.

"Your responsibilities are pretty simple, yet somehow every single girl before you managed to do a terrible job, I hope it is not the case with you." She showed no emotion on her face so I continued. "Your job requires you be here on time in the morning and prepare a brief overview of my day, that means meetings, conference calls, and so on. You will also be helping me write up contracts for clients. These contracts include confidentiality clauses, sometimes provided by the client and previously discussed fees so if you have any doubts with these, check the signed proposal and emails. I'll make sure to copy you in every email so you are updated on these cases." She nodded and looked at me intently, trying to memorize all I was saying, I'm sure.

"Basically, you'll be handling a lot of paper work, but we do get audited frequently so please keep everything organized. Martha will walk you over the system we use for coding clients and filing their documents. Any questions?"

"No, Mr. Cullen."

"Well, if that is all you can head over to Martha who will show you to your desk."

She quickly stood up and left the office. I was surprised she didn't talk much, they usually do. Once again, it was a first.

The day passed very slowly, I didn't have any meetings outside of the building so there was no wasted time getting to and from places, which usually made time fly by.

At 5:20 p.m. I decided to call it a day so I closed the laptop and headed out of my office. As soon as I walked out I saw her. Isabella. She was here at half past five? Another first. She saw me looking at her, and my weird face must have scared her because she immediately started apologizing.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Cullen, I didn't know if you needed me to do something so I just decided to leave when you did, but now I remember them saying you liked your space so I must be an inconvenience, I'll leave immediately."

"Isabella, first of all, please stop being so nervous around me, it's stressing me out. Second, you are free to leave at 5:00 p.m. Just because I work till late, doesn't mean my employees have to, that wouldn't be fair to them. Please don't ever feel the need to do that again."

She nodded and left without another word.


	2. Chapter 2 - Mad Men

**A/N**

 **I never expected to have that many people like the first chapter. Thanks to all that reviewed/followed the story, it means a ton**

 **Disclaimer: Stephanie owns all. I own nothing (except a couple fantasies about officeward)**

 **Chapter 2 – Mad Men**

 **BPOV**

I looked in the mirror and examined my outfit for the day. Black pencil skirt, white button up and some simple black heels. It wasn't what I'd prefer, but it's all I had. Being a college student means minimal money for things that aren't complete necessities, like pretty work clothes.

Lack of money was the main reason for taking on this job. I needed to pay my share for the electricity and water bill, rent, food and other necessities, as well as book for my classes. It's impossible to keep a 3.8 or higher GPA without books and without a 3.8 or higher GPA, there's no scholarship. No scholarship means no degree and that's what I want most in this world.

I've always had to conform to not having what most people had in my town. Nice cars, clothes, weekend getaways, money for college. My father provided us the best way he could and always made sure to put us before himself. When he died 10 years ago, it was like a part of my soul had left the Earth.

Dad was perfect. He cared for my mother, despite her mental issues and treated me like I was his princess. I was his princess. When he left us, my mother was a wreck and I couldn't blame her for it. They were high school sweethearts, she had only ever known love with him. They went through so much together and I can't imagine the pain of seeing your other half being buried in the ground. I don't blame her for not taking care of me after that.

I grabbed my keys and left for work.

As I waited for the metro bus I couldn't help but wonder what my boss was going to be like. Alice, a classmate of mine who also works at Deloitte, mentioned him being easily irritated and that he doesn't mingle with the other employees at all, despite being as young as the rest. I didn't meet him at my interview because he was out of town for business. Busy man.

On the bus ride to Downtown Seattle I listened to some music trying to force myself to relax. People always talk shit about young bosses, either they're jealous or bitter. No one loves their boss, unless they're a push-over or overly nice. I didn't want to be his best friend, but I wasn't in the mood for another huge stress in my life. Jake and college was enough.

Once the bus came to a halt on my stop, I got off and headed towards the building. Here goes nothing.

As soon as I walked through the doors, Martha greeted me with a smile.

"Hello Isabella, how are you today?"

"I'm great, Martha. Thank you" I could tell the nervousness in my tone, but couldn't help it.

"Don't worry about Edward. He's mean but he isn't a pain in the ass like others around here." I smiled at her effort in comforting me.

"How is he mean but not a pain in the ass?"

"Well, the thing is he's usually never here. He's seems to be some type of prodigy and the Big Boss, Carlisle, likes to take him along on every important trip. So you won't have to be in his presence more than 2 days a week, maybe 3. You see when he-" Her explanation was quickly cut off by the beep of the magnetic door. The look on her face gave away who it was.

He looked completely different to what I expected. I admit I looked him up and there were few photos in Google images, but one of a short, slightly heavier than normal, blonde man with glasses popped up. He was standing next to a very tall, bronzed hair man and the caption read "Director of Tax & Legal, Edward Cullen and friend at Annual Finance and Banking Ball."

I guess I just assumed he was the blonde one. I didn't expect a tall, attractive man to be as rude and bitter as everyone seems to say. Hot guys usually aren't mean around here. Maybe he's gay and frustrated?

My gossip like thoughts left as he passed right in front of me. He seemed to be reading a very interesting e-mail because he didn't even look up to say hello to Martha. Once he left, she spoke up.

"Well, that's Edward for ya."

"He seems busy."

"He's always like that. Doesn't say good morning to anyone, doesn't even determine you're there."

"That's rude. What harm does a simple good morning do?"

"Ask him."

Her phone rang and she immediately started panicking. Was it Edward?

"Um, Mr. Cullen, she is already here. I tried telling you as you came in but you were checking your phone, for important issues I'm sure, I'm not insinuating you're texting or doing anything non work related, you just, um, seemed distracted and didn't respond so I left it at that"

Well that's definitely Edward.

"Yes, Mr. Cullen."

She looked up to me. "The devil wants you."

I laughed and stood up, straightening out my skirt and fixing my collar. I took a deep breath and made my way to him. I stood in front of his door for a good minute before knocking lightly. When I heard his approval I walked in.

"Hello Mr. Cullen, I'm Isabella."

He looked up and examined me. I felt embarrassed and _little_ for some reason. Like I wasn't fit for this job.

I sat down as he instructed and listened to him while he detailed what the job entailed. I could tell the previous assistants had done their job incorrectly, but I was still at unease. Did they do their job wrong or was he just a shitty boss who was never satisfied?

I quickly left his office and headed to HR. They had me write down all my personal information and told me about the multiple benefits they offered their employees. I was most happy about the medical insurance. I had gone without any for the past 3 years at UW, and thankfully never needed it, but every winter I get a cold that lasts over a month and it became unbearable to head to class or study. This year, I have a full time job to take care of as well and a 2 month long cold was not welcome.

It was about 4:00 p.m. when I got done with HR and went back to my desk. Was I supposed to leave at 5:00 p.m.? Does he need me to wait up for him? I didn't want to upset him on my first day, so I just sat back and waited for him to leave.

As time passed, I started getting nervous. Will he ever leave? Do I just knock and let him know I'm heading out? I have class at 7:00 p.m., does he know? Do I have to tell him so he knows I'm not leaving early because I'm a flop?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his steps. He stared at me for at least a minute. What did that face even mean? Did I do something wrong? Shit, what if he doesn't like the company?

"I'm so sorry Mr. Cullen, I didn't know if you needed me to do something so I just decided to leave when you did, but now I remember them saying you liked your space so I must be an inconvenience, I'll leave immediately."

He sighed.

"Isabella, first of all, please stop being so nervous around me, it's stressing me out. Second, you are free to leave at 5:00 p.m. Just because I work till late, doesn't mean my employees have to, that wouldn't be fair to them. Please don't ever feel the need to do that again."

I nodded and got my purse and jacket and left.

On the way to class I couldn't help but feel uneasy. This job was not going to be easy, but I needed it so I was going to have to get used to him.

 **EPOV**

It was finally Friday again and I was looking forward to sitting back and doing nothing for the weekend after a hectic 3 day trip to Florida for a contract signing.

I walked through the door of my office and stopped as I saw a small figure next to my desk. Isabella? What the hell was she doing in here?

"Can I help you, Isabella?"

She almost tripped and fell once she heard me and looked at me with panic on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Cullen. My friend's birthday was yesterday and there was a lot of cake so I took home a couple of pieces and brought you one. I don't know if you like chocolate so um, if you don't want it just let me know."

"Thank you, yes I do like chocolate. That's nice of you, but please don't come in here without permission. We take confidentiality very seriously and our clients would hate to know any employee can walk in and see their information.

She looked down, like a child who had just been chastised. Well, she was practically a child.

"I understand."

She hurried and stepped out quickly, before she got too far, I called her back in.

"Yes, Mr. Cullen?"

"Could you bring me some coffee?"

"Um… sure. How do you take it?

"Black. Two sugars."

"Right away."

I saw her walk away and sat down to get started on my work. She came back in a minute, put the coffee on my desk and left quietly. The day passed by pretty fast between meetings and being submerged in paper work. At around 5:20 p.m., my phone rang.

"Hello."

"Excuse you, greet me with a little more enthusiasm next time."

"Ok." And I hung up, knowing the sucker would call me back. 10 seconds later, the phone rang again. Bingo.

"Hello my beloved baby Jasper!"

"Mr. Cullen?" Fuck.

"Isabella?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. Um, Mr. Whitlock is on the line for you." Motherfucker.

"Pass it on."

"Hey, jackass."

"Jasper, what the fuck? You knew I would greet you all chipper and shit and you make Isabella call me?"

"You do know there's caller ID, right? Besides, I knew you wouldn't look and decided maybe she should hear you being all chipper and shit at least once in her Deloitte lifetime."

"What do you want?"

"Well, since you've asked. I want you to join Bianca, Tanya and I for dinner and some beers tonight. What do you say?"

"No."

"Edward, for the love of God, just once act like a normal 34 year old guy."

"No."

"Yes, you're going. You'll have fun. Come on."

"Fine, but I'll be there for an hour or so and then I'm heading home."

"Deal. I'm on my way to your office, then."

He appeared a minute later outside my door knocking furiously. When I opened the door, I noticed Isabella wasn't there. So she got the message, good.

Jasper and I headed over to a local bar Jasper and I frequented occasionally and I tried my best to ignore Tanya the whole way there. It's not that I don't enjoy attention from women, because I do. I just enjoy it when I find the woman to be attractive as well and that I did not find Tanya. She was okay, if you only judge her by her looks, but I'm not like that. For me to like a woman she has to be tolerable as well, and that was not an adjective for Tanya. She was unbearable.

The woman was completely shameless. She flirted with every man with a decent position in the firm and talked shit about every woman that looked better than her. She was not someone I'd like to have as a friend, much less as anything more.

We ordered some appetizers and a beer each and before I knew it an hour had passed so I handed Jasper 20 bucks and got up.

"You're leaving already?" Tanya asked in a sultry tone.

"Yes. I have stuff to do tomorrow."

"Mmm, busy man." And she winked. Ew.

"Yes." I turned around and left.

As I was heading out the door, I saw her. Isabella. She was talking, no, _fighting,_ with a big guy. He grabbed her arm in a rough manner and I couldn't just watch it happen.

"Hey, man don't treat her like that."

"And who the fuck are you?" His eyes were angry. I contemplated just leaving, but he was obviously capable of hurting her and I could not accept that.

"Edward?" Isabella looked at me with confused eyes.

"You know him?" He looked at her, getting noticeably angrier.

"Hey, we work together, that's all." I said, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah right, like I'm going to believe that. I see how men look at her. What, you're different? You don't imagine her on your desk?" What the hell? Is this guy on something? Why is she fighting with him, anyway?

"Look, that's enough. Just let her go and I'll leave."

"Protective of her, now? That's a lot of worry for a man who _just_ works with her." Ok, that's enough.

I grabbed Isabella and pulled her away from him. I saw him coming at me and kicked him in the knee. That made him double over in pain.

"Run." I told her and she nodded and did so. I motioned for her to get in my car.

Once we were in the car, awkward silence set in.

"Um, thanks Mr. Cullen." She was the first to speak. "I'm sorry for what he said, he's like that sometimes when he drinks and I understand if you're mad at me, but please don't fire me." What is it with her apologizing for everything?

"Look, I know it's not your fault, but you have to be careful with guys like that. You're a young girl, there's plenty of fish in the sea, don't put up with guys like that."

"He's not my boyfriend." Oh.

"What is he then? You've got to be stupid to put up with a man like that who isn't even your partner." She didn't answer so I looked up at her and saw her face was angry, so it was me who apologized this time.

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business."

"No, it's not. I'm good here. Just drop me off in the next bus station so I can go home." Wow. Where did this come from?

"Fine."

As soon as the next bus station came up, I pulled over to the right and dropped her off. She got off and closed the door without even a thank you. Bitch.

I got home and quickly took off all my clothes. Once I was in my boxers, I drank some water and got into my bed to watch cooking channel. I stared at the plastic container on my dresser and got back up. I'm a grown ass man, I can have cake before going to bed if I want to. So I did.

I inhaled it and smiled as I drifted off to sleep.

 **A/N**

 **Edward will eat cake with those that review.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Boy Meets World

**A/N**

 **I love hearing (reading) your thoughts and seeing you all mad at Bella for not apologizing. We'll get there ;)**

 **Disclaimer: Stephanie owns all, I own nothing (except a handsome tall man who smiled at me at the office one day and the rest was history).**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3 – Boy meets world**

 **BPOV**

What was his damn problem? Oh, so you helped me in a rough situation and that suddenly gives you the right to judge me? I don't think so. I'm done playing nice guy with him. Well, he did apologize…

No.

He apologized _after_ he insulted me. The damage was done.

Why is this bothering me so much?

I tried reasoning things out with myself but I'm still pissed. He's rude, cocky and disrespectful. He doesn't have the right to question me like that and treat me like a naïve child. He can go fuck himself. And that cake I gave him.

I got home and sighed as I heard the chatter. The only way to afford off campus living was to share a home with three other girls. It was a two bedroom, two bath house and I didn't know the girls till I started living here. I liked them, they were pretty nice over all but they chose to live here because it was fun for them, not because of the money so they didn't understand why I got angry if they took my rice. "Just buy some more." They'd say. It's not that easy.

Also, they were all majoring in Arts or Music, so they didn't have _that_ much study material, I on the other hand was going for a degree in Industrial Engineering, which involved a lot of math and business theory classes. I had to study _a lot_ , and it was near impossible with their constant music, T.V. or gossip.

"So I told him to fuck off you know? He was creepy and smelled funny." I rolled my eyes. He was probably a normal, chill dude but Lisa had to make him seem like a weirdo to feel mighty.

"Ew, I get it. The other day James was mouth-breathing on me in the elevator and it was beyond scary." Well, that I could agree with. The guy was a total mouth-breather.

"Hey chica. Morren sent an e-mail saying the class for next Friday is cancelled. I suppose you didn't get it since you communicate through sign language."

I sat on the kitchen stool a couple feet away from her. "Thanks, Alice. I've moved on from sign language onto passing messages through a dove. Let me know which window to send it to."

She laughed and threw a pillow at me. Alice made fun of my old Nokia phone, but it was honestly all I needed. I could receive and make a phone call and it was a thousand times cheaper than any smart phone. I can't pay for data service, anyway.

Alice was the only girl around here I could actually talk to, she'd become my best friend over the past years.

"I can't believe there's still like two months till the semester is over. I want do crawl into a hole and die."

"I'm with you on that one."

"So, are you gonna tell me why you looked so angry walking in here or not? Was it your dick boss? You didn't look upset in class."

"No, it's nothing. I ran into Jake at the bar and he was drinking, so obviously he got angry."

"When are you gonna file a restraining order on that guy? Jesus."

"You know I can't do that. He cared for me when my father left. I owe him better."

"Guy's a manipulative creep. Screw what you 'owe' him."

Jake and I lived next to each other when I was a kid growing up in Forks. His dad and mine were fishing buddies, so he and I spent quite some time together every summer. He was older than I was, about 6 years, but he always cared for me like a little sister, especially after dad passed away. Up until the winter when I had just turned 16. He started getting handsy and saying more flirtatious things, and I let them slide by because it was _Jake,_ my friend, my brother.

He came to Seattle to study Finance in UW, but failed some classes and decided to drop out. He's been waiting tables and working as a bartender ever since. I catch up with him occasionally, but things got weird after those holidays, so I avoid him now. And he's noticed. And is not happy about it.

He gets angry when he's drunk and starts saying hurtful things. He almost killed my last boyfriend. First and last, at that. Stephen and I met in an Economics class and hit it off instantly. He was a gentleman and treated me with respect. We went out on a couple of dates and after about a month, he asked me officially. When Jake saw us holding hands on a booth at the Bar he lost it. Told me I was a whore, that I was going to burn in hell and who knows what other profanities he said that I didn't hear. I stormed off and never came back, until today.

Seth called me on my cell and told me Jake's dad had passed away from lung cancer the evening before. I felt the need to go check up on Jake because he had done so with me, but I didn't expect to find him drunk at 8:30 p.m.

"Bella?"

"Hi Jake."

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard about your dad. I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Oh, so now I'm some charity, huh?"

"What are you talking about? You know I care for you, I'm not just showing up because I want to pretend I'm a good person."

"Does the pity visit include pity sex?"

"Fuck off Jake, I thought you were better than this." As soon as I said the words, I turned around to leave and felt him angrily grab my arm.

"So, youre just gonna leave now? Let me feel I did you wrong so you can feel like perfect and innocent little Bella who wants to get eaten by the big, bad Jake? Always the victim."

"Jake, let me go. Stop this." He didn't let go. Until the last person on Earth I thought I'd see, showed up.

"Hey, man don't treat her like that." My head popped up and I say Edward standing there. His cheeks were flushed, I'm assuming he had a couple beers himself and he was in his work attire, but missing a couple pieces. Dark blue chino pants and a relaxed shirt. He looked sexy.

The banter between them made me want to disappear. I couldn't believe Jake was saying those things to Edward.

"Earth to Bellita." I smiled at Alice and her Spanish.

"What?"

"Is that all you're gonna say? There's not any other juicy details?"

"Nope."

"Okay then, goodnight. Dulces sueños!"

"Hasta mañana!" I took some Spanish classes myself.

The entire weekend was uneventful. I studied, ate, bathed, repeat.

When Monday arrived, I didn't want to leave my bed. I wasn't tired, I was just dreading having to see Edward. I didn't know how to feel about the whole thing. He did save me from Jake, but then again he was incredibly judgmental about the whole thing.

I decided I was going to apologize and thank him, but also let him know I'm no push over and I would not accept him disrespecting me like that again.

Once I got to the office, I noticed he was already there. Damn, that man does not rest.

I knocked on his door and opened it to find him sitting there, looking at me with an emotionless face. He didn't speak, so I went ahead.

"Hi Mr. Cullen I just wanted-"

"Black, two sugars."

"Excuse me?"

"I told you how I like my coffee, why didn't you make me some?" What? Is he serious?

"Well, last I remembered, the job description didn't include making you coffee." Well, there went my plans to act civilized.

He sat up, face clearly indicating he did not like what he heard.

"Isabella, do as I say."

"Yes, master." And he laughed. Dick.

I came back with his coffee and looked him dead in the eye as I placed it on his desk.

"I came here for a reason, I wanted to apologize." He looked up at me and motioned for me to go on.

"I was offended when you called me stupid, but that doesn't mean you didn't help me in a tough situation so thank you."

"I accept your apology, but this coffee is cold." I want to kill him.

"There's a microwave 4 feet to your right."

"Why are you challenging me, Isabella?"

I didn't answer. He smirked. The son of a bitch _smirked_.

"Every girl before you has done the same. They think I'm their equal because we're close in age. We're not. Don't get sassy on me because I don't appreciate it." His voice got audibly louder as he spoke. He was mad. "And let it be clear, if you need this job you must do as I say. I'm not around here much, but when I am, behave like a good girl, shut your mouth and do your job."

I didn't answer and left to my desk.

 **EPOV**

She was challenging me. And I lied. No other assistant had done that, they're all terrified, they think they're doing everything wrong and that's what leads to them doing nothing at all. They start second guessing everything and panic.

But I didn't like it. I didn't appreciate her talking back to me like I wasn't her boss. I wasn't going to allow that. And after all, why didn't she heat up the coffee? There was a knock on the door. Was it her?

"Hey, man."

"Oh, hey Jasper."

"You sound disappointed. Expecting someone else?" He raised a brown, insinuating something else.

"No, Isabella brought me coffee but it was cold. I thought it was her."

"You ask your assistant to heat up your fucking coffee? You're kidding, right?"

I smiled.

"You're not kidding. That's low man. Don't treat them like dogs."

"I don't think they're dogs, I hire them to assist. Bringing me coffee is a form of assistance."

"You're a dick."

"Did you need something?"

"Yeah, you got manila folders?" I rolled my eyes.

"Jasper, there's a whole department that caters your folder needs, what are you here for?"

"Tanya says you guys fucked." My eyes nearly popped out of my face, I'm sure.

"You're kidding, right? No one believes her, I'm sure."

"I mean, I don't believe her. I know about your celibacy. But the rest of the office believes it, she's giving details." I sighed. What was wrong with that woman?

I got up and headed towards her office, but decided half way to just ignore it. They think I slept with her? Let them think it, I honestly didn't care. As I stopped to turn around, I noticed Isabella looking at me with an odd face.

"What?"

She ignored my question and continued her duties. Good.

For the rest of the afternoon, I prepared my presentation for the Price project and handed Isabella some paperwork that needed to be sorted before 5:00p.m. As I was heading out the office at 6:00 p.m., I saw that she was still there. At least she took her job seriously.

As soon as I got home, my cell rang. I looked at the screen and didn't recognize the number. What stranger calls me at my cell?

"Hello?"

"Mr. Cullen, its Isabella."

"What do you want?"

"The agreement letter for Abot Corporation filed under the Completed section isn't signed. Is there a copy somewhere of the final letter or do I scan this one and send it to the client? In that case, I need the contact email."

"It should be signed. That's weird. Check the Client's file on the server, it should be there."

"I checked, it's not."

"We'll look for it tomorrow then." I'm starting to get annoyed. What does she want me to do?

"Fine." And she hung up. Bitch.

I sat on my sofa and turned on the T.V. Every single thing I went through was a dating reality show, a love soap opera, a love gam show, and so on. Why are people obsessed with love?

I always imagined I'd grow up and get married and have 3 kids. Two boys and one little girl. I'd come home at 6:00 p.m. and be greeted with a smile from my trophy wife and children and all would be rainbows and fucking sunshine, and I tried to make that happen but Heidi just didn't cut it.

She was perfect trophy wife material and I hated it. She had no ambitions in life other than traveling with my money, meeting up with friends for brunch with my money and buying expensive dresses for no reason with my money. I'm not a selfish man, I gladly pay for dates and gifts, but she was borderline abusive and I put up with it for seven years. I was young and naïve and thought she was The One. Boy, was I wrong.

Growing up as an adopted child, I never really felt as I had a family. Edward and Esme were nice people, they cared for me as if I was one of their own, but I never felt as if they were mine. I felt lonely my entire life and assumed that's how it was always going to be. Until I got to Harvard.

I realized I could have a girlfriend keeping me company, who would later be my wife and mother of my children. I started to obsess with the idea of a big family I could come home to every day. A family that would be _mine_.

Heidi knew this and agreed with me every time we talked about it. I never thought she's become obsessed with such superficial things given she fell in love with me when I was broke. We didn't go out to eat, we didn't go to parties or shop for holiday gifts. We missed out on a lot of things but we had each other. And I thought that was enough. It wasn't for her.

She was always pressuring me to get a different, better paying job to help us get married faster. She always urged me to study more, study harder, to take AP classes and write to schools with masters programs. She knew I could be successful and she knew that was good for her. She was selfish and didn't care that it cause me stress. I didn't sleep for days at a time because of the stress.

I'll never forget _that_ day. Today marks the fifth year since it happened. The date burns in my mind, I can't ever get over it. I can't ever forget it. October 28th 2011, the day my heart stopped beating. At least it felt like that.

I shake my head to clear the thoughts of _that_ from my head and head to the kitchen to fix up some dinner. I stare at my fridge for at least three minutes and give up on dinner, since I have no food. I'll have to go to the grocery store soon.

I'm shaken up for the rest of the night. I hate her. I hate her so much and I hate that she still keeps me up at night after so much years. I was a dick to Isabella at work today and I know it's because of the date. I can't help it, it happens every year.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to fall asleep.

Tuesday morning went by fast because of the meeting with Carlisle and I couldn't help but smile recalling our conversation.

"Edward, you continue to surprise me. Your way of finding loopholes in those contracts is amazing. I'm very proud."

"Thank you Carlisle, I really appreciate that."

"I want you to be the lead associate." Wait, what? I was stunned, in silence.

"I know you're young, but your experience and knowledge is undeniable. You're the best we've ever had. I'm announcing it in January if that's fine by you."

"I'm honored, Carlisle. I can't believe this." I'm smiling from ear to ear as I speak to him and he's smiling back at me.

"Don't tell anyone just yet, but please prepare for the upcoming responsibilities. Oh, and your thank you speech."

I laugh and headed to my office. I see Isabella as I approach my door and give her a small smile. She looks away. Oh, right. I was a dick to her yesterday.

I know I'm supposed to apologize but I didn't want anything bursting my bubble right now. The apologies would have to wait till after lunch.

 **A/N**

 **When will these two ever apologize correctly? Also, hope you enjoyed a little insight into Edward's hate for love and relationships.**

 **Reviewers get to go grocery shopping with Edward ;)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Curb Your Enthusiasm

**A/N**

 **Hello, it's been a while and I'm sorry to those I promised this chapter sooner! Work and uni teamed up to give me hell.**

 **And thanks to all who review, your feedback is very helpful. A lot more E/B interaction in this chapter (finally).**

 **Disclaimer: Stephanie owns all, I own nothing. (Except a bunch of expensive engineering books)**

 **Chapter 4 - Curb Your Enthusiasm**

 **BPOV**

It's been a good two months since I started the job and I was finally getting used to the routine. I managed to study enough to keep my 3.8 GPA and could still get about 4 hours of sleep every night, which was amazing. Everything was starting to fall into place. And then everything fell apart.

Mr. Copella decided to give everyone an individual final exam, meaning everyone would have to study differently, meaning no one could lend me their book. I got chain supply management, the hardest topic to find in the book he initially made us buy.

"Mr. Copella, um, where do I study from? The book you assigned has nothing about chain supply."

"Yes, Isabella, I suggest you go and get Logistics Management and Strategy, the authors are Alan Harrison and Remko Van Hoek. It's got everything you need. Remember to study in advance, I'll be testing you on anything and everything about the topic."

"Ok, thanks." Fuck.

This can't be happening, I don't have the money for this. I rushed home and asked Alice to look the book up online and surely it was around 165 dollars. I was gonna fail.

People don't understand the pressure one feels when you just _know_ you're smart and capable, but the world conspires against you. I'm capable of so much, I know my worth. But why the hell is everything so difficult? Why must I buy a close to 200 dollar book to pass a class? How is that fair?

I sat down and wrote out all the numbers involved in my budget and decided to sacrifice my cell phone plan for the month, as well as sell the damn thing. That would help me with at least 40 bucks. I also decided to walk to work instead of using public transport and cut down on snacks during the day. It would be hard, I'd be extra tired and extra hungry but I could manage. I had to.

Walking into the office, I looked at the clock and noticed I was 10 minutes late. And Mr. Cullen was here. Looking straight at me and motioning me to come into his office. Great.

"Isabella, do you care about this job?"

"Of course, why would you ask that?"

"You've been late every day this week."

"I'm sorry, I've been having some issues with-"

"I don't care. Make it work."

"Yes, sir." I headed back to my desk.

This is what we were like. I did everything right, until I didn't and when I messed up in the slightest he'd call me in and scold me. I'd try to explain and he'd cut me off and tell me to "make it work".

After our rough start, he apologized to me one day after lunch and I was surprised he did so. He did tell me to "shut my mouth and be a good girl" but I was mainly the one being rude. It made me feel bad about the whole thing and I decided to quit being immature despite not liking what he said sometimes. He's my boss and I have to put up with it.

The clock marked 12:00 p.m. and my stomach growled. I didn't have breakfast since I was running late and can't afford to stop and buy something on the way, so I just left it at that. About ten minutes later, my phone rang.

"Isabella, come to my office, please."

"On my way." I locked my computer screen and walked up to his office.

When I walked in he sat there looking at some papers and motioned for me to sit without looking up.

"I need you to come with me on a trip next week. Monday through Wednesday." Oh shit, that's finals week.

"Um, Mr. Cullen I have a final test on Tuesday I really can't miss and my professor will not let me change the date. He's extremely strict."

He looked up at me and stared for what felt like an hour.

"Isabella, I don't know how many times to say this. Make it work."

"I understand Mr. Cullen, but please try to understand me-"

"I don't have to understand anything Ms. Swan. You have to cater to the responsibilities your job entails. Email your professor and sort it out."

"Mr. Cullen it's not that easy. He won't just change the date because I need him to."

"Oh, but I have to change the date for my flight because you need me to?"

"I never said that. I'm suggesting taking someone else."

"Well, I don't want to take someone else, I want to go with my assistant." I sighed and left it at that.

"Okay, Mr. Cullen. I'll make it work." He smiled at the reference. Asshole.

I went and sat down on my desk and found myself wanting to cry. I'm tired, hungry, anxious and feeling like everything's about to go to shit.

I know for a fact Mr. Copella will not accept my excuse and I'll fail the test. I also know Mr. Cullen will not let this slide by. Thinking about the possible scenarios made it all worse. If I don't go on the trip, I suspect Mr. Cullen will be mad and fire me or make my days here even worse and if I miss the test I'll fail and probably lose the scholarship. Then again, I can't pay for my needs without a job, but I also have no reason to have a job in the first place if I'm not studying at UW.

Another thing on my mind was Jake. He was constantly showing up at my place with the excuse of checking up on me "for Charlie" knowing damn well that was a sensitive subject for me.

"Hey, Bells." He said as I opened the door.

"Don't call me that. What are you doing here?"

"You know, checking up on the Chief's little girl, making sure she isn't getting herself in trouble. Charlie would not like that."

"Don't talk about my father, if there's anything he wouldn't like it's the way you've been treating me. What's the deal with you?

"You are." As he said the words, he took a step forward and I quickly shut the door and locked it. He started pounding on it immediately.

"Bella, don't do this! Charlie wanted me to take care of you, let me!"

I can't concentrate on anything for the rest of the day because I feel like my world is crumbling down.

At about 4:45 p.m. my phone rings. It's Mr. Cullen.

"Hello Mr. Cullen, how may I help you?"

"Do you have class today?"

"No, I don't. Do you need my help with something?"

"Yes. Come to my office." He hangs up and I head over there.

As soon as I come in, he motions for me to close the door, so I do.

"What do you need, Mr. Cullen?"

"I have to turn in a report to a Manslide Group tomorrow and every single document is in the computer. I just re-read the email an apparently it must all be in physical form."

"Okay, I'll start printing it out then. Is it on the server?"

"No, that's the deal. It's on a confidential platform so bring your laptop here and I'll sign in on there so you can help me print it out. We'll be here a while."

"It's fine." I go over to my desk and disconnect my laptop.

Once I'm back in his office he gives me the link to the platform and types in his username and password.

Here we go.

 **EPOV**

I wanted to scream when I realized the report was in physical form. What year do these people think we're in? Not to mention the damage it does to our Planet every time they make us print 5000 pages of worthless information.

After providing Isabella with the platform we divided how much each would print and got started.

There was a lot of awkward silence in the first hour, but I didn't feel the need to interrupt it with small talk so I left it at that. Isabella had other ideas.

"How long have you been working here?" Cue small talk.

"Five years."

"Have you worked in Tax & Legal from the start?"

"No. Initially I just overviewed contracts for every department and worked with Risk and Independence."

"Oh, cool." _Cool?_

"Yeah."

"What did you go to school for?" I sighed. I didn't want to chatter, I wanted to work in silence.

"Look, Isabella, I understand if you are bothered by the silence, but I enjoy it. Please cut the small talk." I could tell my words bothered her, but couldn't care less. I was stressed and not in the mood.

"I understand."

"If you want, you can get your cellphone or ipod and listen to something. With earphones, of course."

"No thanks."

After another hour of awkward silence, I decided it was time for a break.

"Isabella, how about we take a break?"

She looked up and nodded. She then excused herself and went to the bathroom. I got up and went for some water.

As soon as she came back we took off where we left off. Our work was suddenly interrupted by an extremely loud growling noise. What the hell?

"Was that you?"

She looked embarrassed but nodded.

"You haven't eaten?" I asked.

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"I wasn't hungry."

"What do you mean? I just heard your stomach growl like a lion, how is that not being hungry?"

"I'm not hungry." She looked up and straight at me, basically telling me to drop it. So I did.

"So, have you always lived here?" Seriously? Small talk again?

"Isabella, did you not listen when I told you to please be quiet?"

"Yes, but I don't want to be quiet." What? Is she serious?

"Excuse me?"

"It's called common courtesy. Normal people talk and get to know about each other when working together or are _nice_ when they ask for silence."

"Please be quiet. There?"

"Better." I rolled my eyes. Teenagers.

We worked in silence till her stomach growled again and I got up and dialed the number for 24 hour burgers.

"24 hour burger, how may I help you?"

"Yes, give me a second." I looked at Isabella who stared back at me with a raised brow.

"Isabella what do you like on your burger?"

"What?"

"Burger. Two buns and a meat patty in the middle, what do you want on top of the meat but under the buns?"

"Cheese, bacon and onion rings." Wow, okay. Clearly she's not on a diet.

I gave the order to the lady on the phone, as well as the address to the office and looked at Isabella who was just staring back.

I sat down and continued working till the phone rang indicating the delivery guy was downstairs.

As soon as I finished paying Isabella got up and headed straight for the bags and pulled out a burger for her and one for me.

"They're both for you." I said.

"Really? What will you eat? I shook the big plastic cup for her.

"A milkshake, how is that an appropriate dinner?"

"I'm used to it."

"You don't cook?"

"I don't have time."

"Hm, how about your wife?"

"I'm not married." She looked shocked at the answer, as were most people. After that she didn't ask more questions, gratefully and devoured her burgers.

The girl inhaled the thing like it was nothing. I examined her body and it made me question even more how she could fit all that. She wasn't extremely thin, but was definitely smaller than average. She was short, probably a little taller than 5 foot tall and had slight curves that fit her well.

"Shit." Her voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked at her and noticed her shirt was stained with ketchup.

"Its fine, just wash it when you get home."

"No way, this is one of my roommates' dress shirt. She let me borrow it because I didn't have anything clean to wear today and it's expensive." I looked at the shirt and realized it was Ralph Lauren, I mean they're expensive but not outrageously. I forgot what a college budget was like.

She got up and rushed to the washroom. I looked in my drawer and found a stain remover and headed after her. I walked in and stopped dead in my track when I looked at her.

She had taken of her shirt and was in a lace bralette trying to wash of the stain. Her breasts were beautiful. Round and small but perfect. She looked up and realized I was standing there and her face went white.

"Oh my God, Mr. Cullen" She shrieked and rushed to a stall and closed the door.

"Um, Isabella you left the shirt out here."

"I'm aware. Please leave."

"I brought you some stain remover, I'll leave it on the counter. Um, bye."

I rushed out and rolled my eyes at the thought of her face when I walked in. I was embarrassed for her but there really was no need to be. I had seen women in much less before, I mean not in the last few years and never one of my employees, but a woman in a bra didn't seem to really affect my day to day. But she's young and at that age those things are embarrassing, so I get it.

She walked back in about 10 minutes later and her shirt was wet. She didn't look me in the eye even though I know she felt my stare.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. It's not a big deal, you know? It's like a bathing suit."

"I know, I just feel like I've been messing everything up around here and now you saw me like that and I feel even worse." I rolled my eyes, again.

"Look, I know I'm tough but you've been doing a good job. Don't sweat it."

"Okay."

"Let's forget about that and finish this soon please." She nodded and sat down.

It was around 1:00 a.m. when we finished and I thanked her and headed out.

"Can I clock in late tomorrow?" She asked and I turned around.

"No."

"Figured, bye."

 **A/N**

 **Well, that's that.**

 **Those who review get to eat bacon cheese burgers with Edward ;)**


	5. Chapter 5 - Hillstreet Blues

**Chapter 5 – Hillstreet Blues**

 **A/N Hi guys! Long time no see (write/ read? Lol) Life snuck up on me with some heavy stuff but all good, thank God. I will be dedicated to finishing this story this year so lots to look forward to!**

 **Read on and enjoy my loves…**

 **EPOV**

The smell of coffee invades my senses as soon as the alarm goes off. I love that past me bought an expresso machine that automatically brews my cup at 5:30 a.m. Overpriced but suddenly, so worth it. After last night's heavy contract redactions which led to 3 hours of sleep, I need some extra caffeine besides my coffee at work. I rip off the covers, wash my teeth and face and head to the kitchen to enjoy my coffee in peace and quiet.

As I enter the kitchen, I realize something went wrong with the machine. There's coffee all over the counter and the walls. What on earth?

As I come closer to the machine, it's clear that something went wrong. Apparently, it lost the capacity to measure up the water of one cup and made coffee with all the water in the reserve tank and it got on everything. Great.

I sigh as I look for a mop or something to clean my kitchen and realize I have none. Great, again. I'm not incompetent with house work but I'm used to having Carolina come over and clean twice a week, anything else I spill gets cleaned with paper towels. This is a lot of spilled coffee for paper towels.

After 30 minutes of using overly thin paper towels to clean up a shit ton of coffee, I can finally begin my morning routine. I look over at the clock and its 6:14 a.m. Crap. I'm usually heading out for my morning run at 5:45 so I'm already 30 minutes late. Great, again. I decide to skip the run and go after work to clear my head once I leave.

I can't help but begin my morning irritated as hell and Isabella is being of no good use. As soon as I head in the office, I see that she's not there, neither her purse or jacket. I lift my left hand to see the time on my watch… it's 9:25. Where is she? We have to leave at 11:00 for our flight. I make my way to my office and am annoyed again when there's no hot coffee cup waiting for me, obviously, since Isabella is not here yet. She's finally getting the hang of it... hot, black and with two sugars, stirred. No spoon or mixing straw inside. Just how I like it.

Twenty minutes later, while I'm busy and nose deep into a non-disclosure agreement with a client who's been throwing curveballs at us every time we're closer to sealing a deal, Isabella rushes in, extremely sweaty and clearly in a rush.

"Mr. Cullen, I'm so, so sorry. My professor, the one from today's final, told me he could meet me today at 7:00 a.m. to do the test before and then he completely forgot and arrived at 8:00 with a huge and negative attitude. He let me take it on the spot and I wasn't that prepared because of work and other classes so it took me an hour. Grabbing a bus at 9:00 a.m. was impossible so I ran here. I'm sorry." Her lack of breath made the last statement very clear.

"You ran here?" I couldn't believe it.

"I… yeah, I ran here." I was stunned in silence. Who the hell _runs_ to work because they're late? Normal people call in and say they're behind. They don't _run_ to the office. What is it with this this girl?

My silence must have created something within her. "I'm aware it's weird, almost pathetic. But I didn't have spare change for a cab and didn't want to waste any more time."

"It isn't pathetic. Just call next time." Then I signaled for her to leave. She turned around when I stopped her again. "Oh, Isabella…" "Yes?" She asked. "Please go to the bathroom and freshen up, travelers don't enjoy feeling like they're at a gym when walking through the airport. Please do us all a favor."

She said nothing and continued walking out. Rude. It was just some advice.

 **BPOV**

Does he have to be rude? Everyday? All the time? Something about his face today made it clear he was in an extra mood which was just great, considering we have to catch a flight together.

Thank God, I brought my carry-on into the office yesterday to avoid forgetting it today, it would have been hell having to move that thing on my _morning run._ I double check I have everything and sit tight waiting for it to be time to go to the airport. There isn't much work to do today since we cleared everything beforehand, prepping the paperwork and everything that would be needed these three days we're out of town.

I'm praying and hoping this trip goes by smoothly. Up until now, I know I've done a great job but seem to always be embarrassing myself around Mr. Cullen. He saw me in my underwear last week, I still can't relive it. It's too painful. Only guy to have ever seen me in my underwear before was Stephen and that was just once. And very brief. I'm mortified. And what must have he thought of me? Practically in a grandma bra. I'm not insecure but honestly, the thought of an older, more experience man looking at my young, not-supermodel-body was terrifying. I'm sure I'll forget about it soon. I have to. Thankfully, He was over it before stepping out of the restroom.

11:00 a.m. rolls around and we're heading out in the company Uber. He sits in the back with me and we briefly go over the two meetings we have to tackle in New York.

"Please behave in the meetings. These people are important, like, very important and I don't want them to be offended with any comment or question that shouldn't be spoken." What?

"Okay?" Almost like a question. I'm confused.

"I mean, if you're at the meeting and something is unclear or you don't understand, don't ask, write it down and ask me later." Well, duh?

"Of course. That's common sense, Mr. Cullen." He looks up from his phone and at me. He looks annoyed.

"It's also common sense to call a cab if the bus is packed, yet you still showed up looking like you had just finished an Iron Man." What is wrong with this dude? I'm agreeing with him on his instructions and he feels the need to offend me?

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I don't have any spare money for a cab but I want him to feel ashamed of making such an entitled comment.

"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Cullen, yet I have zero extra dollars to cover the expenses of a cab taking me through all downtown with traffic, but I'll take it into consideration. I'm glad you've lived a good and comfortable life, but please remember we don't all enjoy the same commodities. Trust me, no one purposely runs miles to get to work in a pair of trousers and flats unless it's absolutely necessary." He makes eye contact with me again and silently nods. He looks visibly uncomfortable on me calling out his rude remark.

Good.

The cab driver agrees with me, smirking at me through the mirror.

After the long ride on the cab we get to the airport and I head to the bathroom to change my shirt, I do honestly feel nasty in the one I sweated all over but didn't want to be caught changing in the office. I didn't care to explain to everyone what I had done. Being short on money is not exactly my pride and joy, plus, it's none of their business.

"I'm going to the bathroom really quick." I point to the restrooms with my bag.

"You can leave the bag here. I'll make sure no one steals it."

"Thanks," I gently smile, "but I need some stuff that's in here to freshen up."

"Oh good, thank God," and is back in his phone. Really, can he be more condescending? He looked regretful after his comment in the cab, did he forget?

I ignore the comment and head to the restroom where I pull out a light silk type cami. This will be much more comfortable yet still work appropriate for the flight, plus, I have a cardigan on hand itf it gets cold. The lace on my bra is still slightly see through with the cami but I decide to not pay much attention to it. Unfortunately, he had already seen me in less and by coincidence, same bra. This was no big deal.

I walk out and he looks up at me, then at my clothes, then back at me, then does a double take on the lace peeking out. He lingers for a while then makes eye contact again. Say something… do it.

"Nice clothes." I sense… sarcasm? I don't know but it's a condescending tone. Like always.

"Thanks." The air is kind of weird, I guess we both recognized the lace. He clears his throat, "did you do the pre-check-in last night?"

"I did."

"Good, let's head to American then." He grabs his bag and walks over. The rest of the flight protocols are the same as usual, slow and boring, nothing new. We are sitting at the gate waiting for them to board when he makes another comment on my clothes. "It's a bit inappropriate to be flashing everyone with your bra, you know. I was going to ignore it but felt it was necessary to let you know you can't do any of that in the meetings. These men are all married and have children, I don't want them thinking I brought you along as bait." And there it is.

This time I really couldn't hold it in. One thing is to think I'm sweaty or weird or childish, it's another thing to insinuate I'm trying to hit on, well, everyone, just for showing a lace _strap._ I look up at him and make sure my face displays my anger.

"That's incredibly rude of you. Please refrain from insinuating I'm trying to sexualize myself while I'm _working._ You know nothing of me, don't assume."

"Well-" I cut him off before he answers.

"And don't worry, I won't embarrass you in front of clients, sir." I get up, grab my stuff and sit away from him. I want to avoid further confrontation, I mean he's a dick, but he's my boss and I can't afford to lose this job or make this flight any more awkward than it will already be. I whip out my book on minimalism to entertain myself and relax.

I can see him stand up and speak to the ladies at the counter. What's that about? I brush it off and continue reading my book. I hear when they call out to the first-class flyers and Edward stands up with his bag. What? We're supposed to be flying coach…

I get up and meet him in line. "Are we on first class?"

"I am." He doesn't even look down at me to answer.

"Our seats are next to each other."

"Were." I sigh. Man, I'm just confused, help me out.

"Will you please be clear with me? I'm confused."

"I talked to the ladies and got upgraded because of my frequent flyer points. The company won't pay for your upgrade so I didn't bother to ask if they ha anymore seats. But it's okay, coach is nice, don't worry." I smile and nod then head back. The people behind him are watching the whole thing, clearly pitying me. Great.

As I board the plane I pass him in first-class. He smiles at me. Dick. My seat is actually just 2 rows behind first class so at least I won't get off too much after him.

I sit and wait for the plane to close. I'm sitting at the window seat so I look to my left ant notice both are empty. Score! I'll have the row to myself! I'm not done celebrating when a very handsome, very tall, very blonde stranger smiles at me. "Hey there, this is my seat," and points to the row one, "we'll be flight partners." His smile is charming and his introduction is warm. It's a smooth way to break the strangers-on-a-plane-together-for-hours-yet-ignoring-each other tension.

I smile back, "I'm Isabella. Nice to meet you." He smiles again, "Edward, nice to meet you too." The smile falls from my face instantly and he notices, "wow, some PTSD with the name, huh?" he laughs while he says it. I laugh back, "yeah, sort of like that."

"An ex?" He's sitting now and leaning towards me, open to make conversations. I lean in too. "Nope, just a dick boss." He laughs louder now.

"Been there! They suck. At least you're traveling somewhere away from him?"

"Nope, he's in first class," I imitate a posh accent for my next line, "got upgraded but the _company_ won't pay for mine. Peasants those assistants. God save the king of tax." We both let out a huge laugh at this and some passengers turn to identify the noise, including said king of tax. He makes a face at me which is a clear "shush". Yes, sir.

We both stop laughing and just keep smiling at each other. Good karma does exist. I get to flirt with a handsome Edward for the rest of the flight.

"So, you're traveling for work?"

"Yep, got a couple meetings in Manhattan."

"I'm heading to Manhattan too. Where are you staying?"

I don't remember, so I check on the folder I have with me and confirm. "Wow, you really are an assistant. Itinerary folder and everything," he teases, "did you make sure his blue and red Skittles are in separate bowls?" I snort-laugh at the comment and we get looks again. Including the king of tax.

"I'm staying at the Hampton Inn."

"Hey! Me too. We should get a drink any night you're off."

I smile and nod "We should do that." He smiles back and you can just _feel_ the chemistry. It's been a while since I've felt that. It's nice.

Stephen and I had a good time, but the relationship lacked that tangible chemistry and passion you see in movies. We were good friends and I did have a crush on him for the longest time but the rest just wasn't there. Add in all the stress and tension Jake put on us and needless to say, that relationship didn't survive the test of time. Stephen was like any other guy and just wanted a girl to care for, chill with and have bomb sex with. I couldn't be that girl. I have issues being taken care of, it makes me uncomfortable and I can't afford to just "chill". And well, sex didn't make me feel comfortable. We did it once, it sucked, I never wanted it again so I just avoided it hoping he wouldn't bring it up. Of course, he did and I always shut him down. The end of us was very near after that.

I'm nervous thinking that a drink with him might lead to more. Maybe I should take advantage of the fact that I'll probably never see him again and just let loose. Flirt, kiss, maybe even let him take me up to his room. Mr. Cullen doesn't have to find out, plus, what I do in my free time is my business. I roll my eyes at the thought of him walking in on us.

" _Hey Isabella, please prepare my coffee downstairs in the morning. Black with two sugars, stirred not-" and me furiously riding Edward, purposely screaming his name. Then innocently turning around, "oh Mr. Cullen, sorry, I'm busy. Call me at 8:00 a.m."_

Ha! Wow. That would surely get me fired, calm down, girl. Where did that come from? This man is actually making me plot ways to piss him off. This isn't like me at all.

"Enjoy the flight." His voice pulls me out of my daydreaming and I notice I must have been quiet for a while. "Thanks, you too." I put on my earphones and zone out.

A shake wakes me from my slumber and I realize the warm hand on my shoulder is Edward's. I look over and he's curiously grinning at me. "Wake up, were here." Seriously?

"I slept the entire flight?"

"Yep," he laughed, "I didn't wake you for the food cause you looked way too peaceful. Seems like you needed the rest."

"I will need it for these next three days." He laughs lightly.

"Give me your phone number, I'll text you for that drink." Damn, straight to the point. I give him my number and we get off the plane. As soon as we're off I spot Mr. Cullen walking straight to immigration without a care in the world. What a gentleman, can't even wait for me.

I speed up and catch up to him, purposely regaining my breath before making myself known so he doesn't notice I had to chase after him. "Oh hello." He seems unfazed by me. Shocker.

We go through all the processes, grab a cab and head to the hotel. We make our way to the counter and the lady immediately straightens out her blouse and smiles directly at Mr. Cullen. She's pretty, all American, blonde and sweet.

"Hello, welcome to the Hampton Inn. How can I help you?" She extra bats her eyelashes at him, not too flirty, but a little bit more than just friendly. Tasteful in my opinion. Good job, girl.

"Hi, there should be a reservation for two rooms. Cullen." He doesn't share the same flirty tone. Weirdest guy ever.

"Sure," she keeps the same sweet tone and smile, "let me look it up." She intentionally makes eye contact and he intentionally looks away. Is this dude gay? He's a very good-looking man, young, successful, why isn't he interested in women? Or maybe he is asexual? Or maybe I should just get over my society-induced ideas that men should be open to women's advances all the time. Jeez, Bella.

"Cullen, found it. Just sign here," she hands him the confirmation document, "and here are your keys." She gives him four cards, two for each room, and smiles. "Thanks." He replies dryly as he signs the document and shoves the four keys in his pocket. Are you going to hand me mine or…?

"Anything else you need help with, just dial 0. I'm here all week working 5:00 p.m. through 2:00 a.m." Wow, girl. Out there. He just nods and grabs his stuff to walk over to the elevator.

As we board, I grow impatient. "What room number am I?" He's immersed in his phone, again. I clear my throat, "Mr. Cullen."

"Huh?" Still not looking up.

"My room. What number is it?"

"Oh, let me check." He pulls out the four keys and reads the numbers over. "Hmmm. Take this one." I grab it and see its 0709, meaning it's on the seventh floor. I look up at the bright red number on the elevator as it dings and comes to a stop and the number is twelve. I look at the buttons and effectively, the only number pressed was twelve. Mr. Cullen grabs his bag and rolls out. "Goodnight."

Seriously? Can't even press my number? This guy is unbelievable. Who hurt him so much he needs to be this much of a jerk to feel good? I sigh and press seven. The elevator keeps going up. Great.

After an unreasonably long elevator ride, I'm finally on my floor and heading to my room. As I come closer I realize why Mr. Cullen gave me this room. It's right next to the laundry with all the loud washing machines and dryers. He's stayed here a thousand times, he must have known.

I get in and unpack my belongings, desperately trying to ignore the loud noises coming from the room next door. This is a quality hotel, this shouldn't happen, no? A loud grumble interrupts me and I remember I haven't eaten since breakfast. Crap, are we going to eat dinner? Mr. Cullen didn't specific anything. What do I do?

I decide to just get in my pj's and sleep. I'm used to feeling hunger and I'm tired either way. Plus, I have continental breakfast to look forward to. I drift to sleep with thoughts of waffles and bacon.

The alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m. and I jump out of bed to get ready, full of energy from that long sleep. First in many, many months. The meeting is at 10:00 a.m. so I have enough time to take a hot, long shower and have breakfast.

I strip and get inside, enjoying the hot water, something I don't ever have at home. I barely remember the last time I showered with water that wasn't ice cold and hurrying so my roommates don't knock and disturb me. I shampoo and condition my hair, humming to the rhythm of some random song playing in the radio clock from my bedside table. I drift back to thoughts of Edward and how nice male attention felt, for a change. My days have been very stressful lately. I'm up all-night studying for tests and going over notes then working eight hours a day, plus the hours that take up my classes. Three to four hours of sleep is the norm and I really can't complain, you gotta work for what you want. I don't want to be this broke and tired my whole life. I, admittedly, want to be like Mr. Cullen. Young and successful without the attitude and disregard for manners.

I hop out, throw on a nice dress Alice was kind enough to lend me for the meeting, along with another nice skirt and blouse set for tomorrow's. She's definitely a God-sent. One of the only sources of peace and quiet I've had so far.

I admire myself in the mirror and admit I look nice. Very nice. I smile, Edward's flirting and today's dress has me all sorts of flattered. I dry my hair and head out towards the breakfast area.

A tall and sweaty figure is also there, surprisingly. Mr. Cullen? Sweaty? In workout gear?

"Mr. Cullen?" He spins so fast he almost drops his toast. "Hi Isabella." It's almost odd seeing him out of a suit. He looks… normal?

"Good morning. I didn't expect to see you here." Truthfully, expected to see him at some high-end French bakery drinking expensive coffee with his pinky pointing upwards. Snort.

"You didn't expect to see me eating breakfast, at the breakfast area, at breakfast time?" He raises his brow, clearly mocking me for my remark.

"Nope." I pop the P just to emphasize how unbothered I am by his sarcasm.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower. See you in the lobby at 10:00 a.m." And he walks past me towards the elevator.

At 10:00 a.m. sharp we meet and head to the meeting. Once there we greet the clients and take a seat, I help Mr. Cullen with the slides and passing over the documents while he pitches the way Deloitte can help them optimize their nation-wide finances through the new tax reforms. Dude knows his stuff.

"The thing is," the CFO says his first words after Mr. Cullen's closing line, "everything sounds good on paper, but the changes you're proposing could cause permanent damage to the way we handle our money currently and then there's no way to see if it's actually helpful to transition into what you propose. We'd be doomed if it ends up badly. Not investing in this heads on and implementing it everywhere is a sure way of making sure it's not successful, but on the other hand, going full in without the option to go back would doom us if it's not successful. There's no way to test trial it." Well duh, bro.

"Yes, that's why, as Deloitte, we suggest these transitions be made hand in hand with us. We're equipped to make sure it works. It's our _job_ to make sure it works. We can't be 100% certain your company will profit off of it, because it hasn't happened yet, but we can show you the numbers of our other clients and how it helped them." Good answer, Mr. Cullen.

"I don't care about other's numbers. How can I test this without going full in?"

"Respectfully, it's impossible. The point of this specific tax implementation is to make sure your money is being used in the most efficient way. If we go halfway in, you will never see the full picture and all its benefits."

"I just don't understand the theory of this. It's all or nothing." Has this man never heard of risks? I can tell by his clothing and tone of voice he's a very "Give me proof or evidence!" type of guy. Mr. Cullen needs to hit him with a more heads on kind of response and not a "Trust us! We know!" response. More numbers and proved theories, less sentimentalism.

"The theory is it works. The numbers show it and the market responds to it." I can tell he's losing his patience, now.

"You can't expect a client to not require a test trial. Some of us like to play safe."

"By testing it, you alter the outcome. That's how it works and that's why we don't provide test trials, the concept of it doesn't exist with this." Mr. Cullen softens his tone of voice, clearly trying to calm himself down, but still sounds annoyed.

"Makes no sense." CFO is clearly not listening and is closed off.

"Mr. Brighton." I raise my voice. All heads turn to me. Mr. Cullen looks straight at me and widens his eyes. A warning. Don't worry, Mr., I got this.

"It's a classic case of Schrodinger's Cat. By trying to verify the experiment, you alter it, therefore ruining the outcome of it and it becomes impossible to know if it works." I glance at his pen from the annual Quantum Physics Expo, clearly a nerdy-ish guy. I smile at him and playfully reference something he'll understand, "it's like trying to measure a photon, but with taxes."

And then he saves my career…. he laughs. And I don't mean a light laugh, like he full out laughs. It… worked?

"That's brilliant. What's your name?" He's _smiling_ at me.

"Isabella. Isabella Swan." He nods. "I like you, Isabella. What do you do at Deloitte?" The meeting is about me now, huh. "I'm," I nod towards Mr. Cullen who is dead serious, "his assistant." He already knows this, it was mentioned in the introductions but typical, didn't pay attention.

"Quite a smart girl you got there." He looks over at Mr. Cullen, "not a lot of twenty year olds can reference that kind of science."

Mr. Cullen smiles and nods, "we have all sorts of intelligence in our team."

I smile and add in, "that's why were trustworthy. Trust Mr. Cullen and trust me, we can really take all those funds you're wasting on useless tax filings and turn them into investments. These tax reforms are key to helping a company like yours save money and be more efficient with the payments you're lawfully obliged to make."

He nods and seems receptive to my comment. "Okay, then."

Mr. Cullen practically jumps out of his chair. "Okay?"

Mr. Brighton nods, "yes, I'm in. We're in." he looks at me and asks me to write up the contract. We got it.

I look over to Mr. Cullen who seems to be having some sort of epiphany and smirk internally. Take that, smart ass.

 **A/N Ha! Bella showed him, right? Also, any other gals on here obsessed with quantum entanglement? I become more and more into it the more I read lol.**

 **Next chapter features Mr. Cullen's reaction to Bella stunning the CFO and Edward (He shares names with our beloved for a reason… hold on) makes his second appearance. Also… jealous officeward comes out to play. Stay tuned.**

 **Reviewers get to eat continental breakfast with a post-run and sweaty Edward ;)**


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